The characters of the vaccine story, and the risks of ‘vaccine nationalism’
On Tuesday, the world’s media turned to Britain, the first country to administer a clinically tested and authorized coronavirus vaccine. Coverage was full of local color: Margaret Keenan, a ninety-year-old woman, became the first person to be vaccinated, then she drank a cup of tea. “She’s celebrating by ‘avin’ a spot of tea, a nice cuppa,” MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow said, in an excruciating English accent. (Maddow described Keenan as “very, very British”; the Irishpress begged to differ.) William Shakespeare (really) was next in line. He went viral on social media, as did Martin Kenyon, a ninety-one-year-old man who spoke to CNN outside a vaccination center: “I went off and had a rather nasty lunch and came back and they were ready for me.” Kenyon further endeared himself in follow-up interviews he told